


A nightmare.

by aamaurot



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25251034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aamaurot/pseuds/aamaurot
Summary: when ur dark knight warrior of light has a nightmare, some groovy things happen 😬
Kudos: 3





	A nightmare.

The battle was long and arduous. Men and women fell alike side by side as the Warrior of Darkness stood tall in the middle. A great white bear had attacked the Dark Knight amongst the many soldiers surrounding him, and the greatsword that Iszy held close had parried the ginormous paw that came for his head. 

This was not the first battle against a sineater, and it will most certainly not be the last, but by whatever gods are real, Iszy was not going to let this one claim his life. He still had many people to protect, many to keep alive and many who were relying on him to continue his fight.

Another paw had made its move on Iszy’s life, but with a swift adjustment of the greatsword, Iszy was able to parry both paws and come away with his life for now. A growl came from the great bear, and the Dark Knight knew the time to switch to the offensive had come. 

With all his might, the large auri had placed his other hand on the back of the blade and pushed with the attempt of pushing the bear away from him and giving him the room to push the offensive and kill the bear. Another swift movement of the greatsword, and the bear’s head rolled away from his neck, with the rest of the body toppling to the ground. Light began to rise off the bear as the aether from the great light creature had begun to return to the atmosphere.

White blood had made its way onto Iszy’s face from the bear’s neck, but with a swift wipe of his face the blood had gone. The liquid continued to drip off of his greatsword onto the grass.

It did not take long for the lesser sineaters surrounding the group to fall. One by one, the Crystarium guards had taken care of them, imitating Iszy himself and severing the heads from the body. 

A few moments of silence.

And then an uproar of cheers came from the Crystarium guards. They had been able to push back the Eulmoran sineater army once again, and save their town from being annexed by the appeaser Vauthry. Every win was a breath of fresh air for the Crystarium, and it did not take them long to hug their friends and comrades as they celebrated the win.

All except the Dark Knight.

Something was off, Iszy had noted. The atmosphere was not one of victory that he was used to. No, it felt like something else. Like it was only a delay in the inevitable.

“GET DOWN!”

A familiar voice had yelled, and Iszy did not take long to react to the words. He had swiftly moved out of the way to notice a large winged female sineater channeling an ability with her sword.

Iszy had recognised these sineaters. They were not lightwardens; more like “Generals” in the sineater army, per sé. They were powerful, and hard to take down.

And as though the sineater knew that Iszy was talking about their power, they swept the guards that had previously been cheering in one blow. None survived.The Warrior of Darkness’ eyes widened in shock at how swiftly the guards had perished, but it did not take long for a determined look to come onto his face.

Gripping the blade tightly with two hands, the Warrior of Darkness was ready to fight. There is no such thing as a break in war like this. 

A ghostly figurine had manifested near to the au ra, his own great axe held in both hands, opting for a defensive stance like the au ra.

“I thought you are incorporeal.”

“I still saved your life didn’t I?” Ardbert had responded with a smirk to his lips.

It did not take long for the au ra to respond with a smirk of his own before taking matters into his own hands and beginning to go on the offensive against the large sineater before him.

The greatsword flew through the air, and made contact with the sineater’s own smaller blade. It did not take long for the Dark Knight to begin to channel his own darkside into the blade. More and more pressure came from the Dark Knight onto the sineater and soon enough the sineaters blade had chipped and broke. Despite the sineater being powerful, Iszy had had more than enough practice against them; they were weak without their sword. 

The blade adjusted and danced gracefully through the air as the Dark Knight aimed once again towards the sineater’s head. What Iszy did not expect, however, was the sineater to block the greatsword with its own arm. A swift adjustment, and the au ra was able to channel some more darkside and take the sineater’s arm off with the greatsword. 

A grave error came from the au ra, one that he had never expected. 

The sineater’s sword, despite being broken, was still being used as a weapon. The sineater had attempted to penetrate the au ra through his stomach, and turn himself into a sineater of great power.

Yet, it did not happen. And it was not of Iszy’s accord.

A small, red haired miqo’te had taken the blow. A blue shield around Iszy, but not around Helith’ir. The sword penetrated through his stomach, and blood began to fall from his lips as the miqo’te looked up at his husband with pained eyes.

A smile was on his lips.

“I feel… like I owe you this.” The miqo’te spoke with a pained expression

~

The greatsword was already in his hand, and in the au ra’s rage the table in the Crystarium’s inn had been cut in two.

“Master Khatayin?” A voice cried from behind the door. “Is everything alright?”

Iszy recognised that it was only the innkeeper. The greatsword scraped across the floor, and Iszy stared at the shattered table. The glass and pots that were on the table were now mainly smashed, save a few lucky ones.

“Yes.. I’m fine.” Iszy responded after a few seconds. “I’m fine.” He repeated, as though justifying it to himself.

"Very well, Master Khatayin.” The innkeeper responded. The dark knight could hear the scuttling of the innkeeper back to his post.

An audible sigh came from the dark knight, and his clawed gauntlets reached up to his forehead and intertwined with his white and pink locks. “A nightmare.”

“Hm. Possibly.” A similar voice to his own responded. “Or was it real?”

An au ra had manifested behind him; identical to Iszy in all except voice and armour. The dark knight was not sure if he was happy to see them or not.

“Did you do this?” Iszy had asked calmly, still staring at the destruction of the table.

There was silence from both of them.

“DID YOU DO THIS?” Iszy’s voice raised as he turned back to look at his esteem. His eyes were angry and piercing. 

“You asked. You cried out. You tired of the charade, and I took the reins.” A shrug came from the other, and a smirk remained on his lips. “You may have gave me your answer long ago, Iszy Khatayin, but know that I am always here. I am always watching. Ready to take control whenever you feel like it. Whenever the pain gets too much.”

The dark knight remained silent. Hunched over and two hands gripping on the greatsword as it remained on the floor, not far from the scene of the crime. Though it did not take long for the dark knight to grip the greatsword tighter and point it towards the other’s face. 

“I did not give you my word. You gripped the reins tight without permission, and you have caused problems once again.” Iszy stared intensely at his esteem. “I do not want to teach you again like that time in Ishgard.”

Esteem snickered under his breath, shrugging his shoulders again and holding his arms out. With that, the shadowy figure disappeared into the night without any further words.

Iszy sighed gently. The dark knight walked over towards the windows, throwing them open and then staring up at the stars in the sky. It had been several months since Hades had been defeated, and sineaters were on the run, but the au ra cannot stop having strange dreams about loving the miqo’te he loved dearly. 

It was not possible, he made sure of that, but when the miqo’te was busy on other business, and the two were separated, Iszy’s anxiety took the foreground, and the fear that they would never see each other again was too prominent in his mind.

Perhaps it was for the best that Esteem had taken over.

Perhaps if he hadn’t, there may be more damage around the inn.

With that, the au ra leant on the railings behind the window, continuing to look to the sky. He could no longer sleep after that dream.


End file.
